Dan Simmons Related Links
Dan Simmons has won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the
World Fantasy Award and a number of others. He is the author
of Song of Kali, the Hyperion books, Hyperion and
The Fall of Hyperion, the Endymion books, Endymion and The Rise of Endymion,
and a number of other terrific novels.

In 1989, Hyperion burst onto the Science Fiction field
to torrents of praise and stellar reviews. Hyperion captured the
imagination of countless readers with the tale of a universe filled
with such creations as the Core, the Shrike, the
Time Tombs, farcasters, and the
Hegemony. Dan Simmons offered readers a second
journey to his universe with The Fall of Hyperion. The
demand for more stories lead to Endymion; a tale of what
happened after the Fall.

Now, The Rise of Endymion completes the tale. Endymion
introduced us to Raul Endymion, a Hyperion native who is
inextricably linked to Aenea, a young girl who, it would seem,
is the new messiah, destined to overthrow the Pax. The Rise
of Endymion continues that story as it follows Aenea as she comes of age.

Dan Simmons is a busy writer in this tale. If you haven't read
at least Endymion, much of the novel will just be
confusing. But, for those that have read the other Hyperion
novels, there are many, many mysteries to uncover and loose ends
to tie up. What is the Shrike? What role does it play? Who or
what stole Earth? What is the AI Core up to? Why has it allied
with the Pax Church? How does Raul end up in a
Schrodinger box? And on, and on...

However, the tale is much more complex than the
last five minutes of a Murder, She Wrote episode and
Simmons keeps the reader enthralled the entire way.

This is not a novel for first timers. Go back,
pick up Hyperion along with the other two novels and, when you are good and
steeped in the lore of Hyperion, come back and give this one a read.

For those who have already read (or re-read) the first
three, pick this one up. It moves faster
than the Shrike and it offers as many new mysteries as it does
answers along the way, but the conclusion is well worth the journey.